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A 4.5% increase before April would see Band D households paying an extra £50 for 2015/16 on top of the £1,011 a year they already pay, and such a move would raise council tax income to just under £58m.

The plans have already been criticised by opposition figures who say residents should not be burdened with austerity cuts.

Savings of £20m have already been found by the council in the past four years and it must find more than double that over the next four years. The council says its funding woes have been exacerbated by the Welsh Government cutting its grant in 2014/15 by 4.4% and a further 4% in 2015/2016.

Twelve other councils in Wales are considering an increase in council tax at a level of 4.5% and 5%, with two authorities planning an increase of less than 3.75%.

Resources cabinet member Peredur Jenkins said that the whole strategy attempts to protect services while keeping the council tax increase to the minimum.

Cllr Peredur Jenkins

Cllr Jenkins said: “It also aims to ensure that any savings which we will have to deliver will be found from those areas which will have the least effect upon our citizens.

“We foresee that 12 councils in Wales will increase council tax at a level of between 4.5% and 5%, and I consider that 4.5% is reasonable as a step towards addressing the massive funding gap we are facing.”

Council chief executive Dilwyn Williams added: “Once again this year, the full council is asked to try to strike the correct balance between taxation and saving, and this at a most challenging time.

"I welcome the proposal as an attempt to strike that balance.”

Cllr Jenkins said other steps being looked at include cutting £6.17m from the roads budget and £4.3m from schools, while eight libraries face the axe.